The Legal Aid Society–Employment Law Center

Brown Bag Lectures

The Elizabeth J. Cabraser 2011 Summer Brown Bag Lectures in Public Interest Law

Tuesday, June 14 Do Not (Re)Enter: The Impact of Criminal Background Checks on Communities of Color

Dorsey Nunn, Director, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and Co-Founder, All of Us or None

Linda Evans, Organizer, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children

Roberta Steele, Partner, Goldstein Demchak Baller Borgen & Dardarian

Jessie Warner, Director Clean Slate Practice, East Bay Community Law Center

Nearly 20 million persons in the U.S. have felony convictions representing 8.6 percent of the adult population, and approximately one third of African American males. At the same time, the use of criminal background screening by employers and other gatekeepers is on the rise. This dynamic group of panelists will discuss the impact of such screening upon people with criminal records and the scope and limitations of the legal tools available to the advocates who represent them. Read more

Tuesday, June 21 The Honorable Donna Hitchens: A Life in Law

The Honorable Donna Hitchens (Ret.), San Francisco Superior Court

Growing up in a working-class family, Donna Hitchens never even met a lawyer until she was in her 20s. Earlier this year, Judge Hitchens—the nation’s first elected openly lesbian judge—retired after 20 years on the San Francisco Superior Court bench. Her achievements over a career as an advocate and judge include helping to start the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and transforming the city’s family court system. Join Judge Hitchens as she reflects upon her remarkable life and career. Read more

Tuesday, June 28 Changing Laws to Change Places: The New Public Health Agenda to Improve Where We Live, Work, Learn, Eat, and Play

Samantha Graff, Director of Legal Research, Public Health Law & Policy

Sara Zimmerman, Senior Staff Attorney, Public Health Law & Policy

Public Health Law & Policy is an Oakland-based non-profit organization that uniquely teams attorneys, policy analysts, and urban planners to support public health initiatives. Learn how public interest lawyers are helping break down systemic barriers to clean air, healthy foods, and safe physical activity for all. Read more

Wednesday, July 13 Location: Farella Braun + Martel LLP 235 Montgomery Street , 17th Floor A Conversation with Therese Stewart

Therese Stewart, Chief Deputy Attorney for San Francisco

Please join us for a broad ranging discussion with the Chief Deputy San Francisco City Attorney and counsel in Strauss v. Horton and Perry v. Brown (formerly Schwarzennegger)—cases challenging Proposition 8 and the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage. Read more

Tuesday, July 19 Put Up Your Dukes: An Insider’s Look at the Epic Wal-Mart Sex Discrimination Case

Jocelyn D. Larkin, Executive Director, Impact Fund (Counsel for Betty Dukes)

For more than a decade, and in proceedings before every level of the federal judiciary, public interest lawyers including Jocelyn Larkin have been representing the women of Wal-Mart. While women make up more than two-thirds of the workforce at Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest employer, men hold more than two-thirds of all management positions, and the vast majority of store manager slots. After the Ninth Circuit ruled that hundreds of thousands of Wal-Mart women could proceed as a class action with their claims of promotion and pay discrimination, the retailer obtained a review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Join us for a frank discussion of current law and politics of impact employment discrimination litigation.

Tuesday, July 26 Supreme Court Review: Analysis and Discussion of the 2010–11 Term

Pamela S. Karlan, Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law, Stanford Law School

Drawing on her experiences as a former Supreme Court clerk, constitutional law professor, and founding director of Stanford’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, Professor Pamela Karlan will provide her analysis of the 2010–11 Supreme Court term. This term, the Court took up several matters of public importance, including the enforceability of an arbitration clause that violated California law by excluding the class action procedure, the scope of the constitutional right of informational privacy, the standing of taxpayers to bring claims under the Establishment Clause, the propriety of a court order mandating that California reduce its prison population, the protection afforded Fred Phelps and his associates by the First Amendment, the construction of the FLSA’s retaliation provisions, and the question of whether the class certified in the Dukes v. Wal-Mart case met the standards of Rule 23. Read more

Tuesday, August 2 Representing Migrant Workers from the Home Country

Silas Shawver, Legal Director, Centro de los Derechos del Migrante

Based in Mexico City and Oaxaca, Mexico, the Centro de los Derechos del Migrante enforces U.S. workplace rights on behalf of migrant workers. Now in its sixth year, the organization employs an innovative and transnational blend of community education, referrals, direct representation, and policy advocacy. Come hear Silas Shawver, CDM’s Legal Director and LAS–ELC alum, describe the benefits and struggles of practicing public interest law without borders. Read more

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